Review
by SilverHeart09
Summary: The review of Iron Man 2 which I wrote for my local paper. SO much fun to write : please review and let me know how I did! And if you agree with any of the points I mentioned.


_I wrote this as a review for my local paper, I don't know if anyone is interested in reading it but if you are then here you go :)_

AS long anticipated sequels go, Iron Man 2 delivered explosively, with Mickey Rourke playing a truly stupendous villain and Robert Downey Jr back in the saddle as billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (Iron Man).

The story picks up 6 months after Tony Stark declared his duel identity as Iron Man to the entire world, and after a brief visit to Russia in which we see Ivan Vanko's (Mickey Rourke) father die and Ivan declare his vengeance in the form of a long, drawn out scream, we are introduced to the Stark Expo, an event first introduced by Howard Stark and re-introduced by Tony Stark in the form of a truly confusing speech with some great cheerleaders dancing to AC/DC while wearing barely anything.

The underlying plot in the sequel is in the form of the miniaturised Arc Reactor which Tony created in the first film in order to keep shrapnel out of his heart; it has begun to leak palladium into his body. He can't keep it in because it will kill him, and he can't take it _out _because it will kill him. What a pickle.

Also introduced in this film is Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), who is the CEO of Hammer Industries, Stark Industries' business rival. Hammer helps Vanko to fake his death in a French prison after he goes after Tony on the Monaco racetrack with whips (giving poor Pepper Potts a minor heart attack in the process) and is defeated when Tony pulls on a travel version of the Iron Man armour folded into a suitcase and kicks his butt back to Russia (well a French prison but you get the idea).

Replacing Terrance Howard as James Rhodes is Don Cheadle, who is just as good as his predecessor AND gets a cool suit of his own, which Hammer declares he's 'pimped out'. However the only reason he gets the suit in the first place is because he steals it from Tony's garage after kicking him around his house at Tony's birthday party when Tony got just that _little _bit too drunk. Personally I felt sorry for the poor house.

Making a popular entrance as Nick Fury is Samuel L Jackson, who along with Agent Natasha Romanoff (who poses as 'Natalie Rushman' in order to work with Tony Stark as his PA when Tony promotes Pepper to CEO) is determined to fix Tony up and get him to sort out his heart problem in the form of the epically failing Arc Reactor. Fury introduces Tony to a box which belonged to Howard Stark and is full of notes and diagrams, along with some funny outtakes from Howard's 1974 expo speech (So from all of us here at Stark Industries I'd like to personally show you… my ass') and it is then up to Tony to find a new element to replace the palladium core in said epically failing Arc Reactor. When Fury asks Tony what he remembers about his dad Tony replies 'he was cold, he was calculating, he never told me he loved me he never even told me he _liked _me,' so there is a truly touching scene when Tony discovers an Easter egg on one of the Expo videos in which Howard had left a message for his son, 'My greatest creation… is you.' Cue cinema full of 'aw-ing' teenage girls, and yes, I _was _one of them.

Meanwhile Whiplash and Hammer have teamed up together to create Hammer Drones which Hammer presents at the Stark Expo with James Rhodes leading as War Machine in his new pimped up suit, cue Iron Man flying in to MUCH louder applause, all fixed up with a new Arc Reactor after finding a new element hidden in one of his father's diagrams. The customary battle between superhero and villain doesn't disappoint, with some great banter between Rhodey and Tony and some truly INCREDIBLE high kicks and pwnage from Agent Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson).

All in all Iron Man 2 is a fantastic follow-up from the first film and I would recommend it to anyone, especially those who love watching robots beat each other up. My only regret? They didn't include the 'You complete me!' scene from the trailers, although there was a better scene after the battle so I'm not complaining too much.


End file.
